Jonathan Wins Second Race of 2015

Jonathan Brownlee has won the second race of the 2015 World Triathlon Series in Auckland, New Zealand.

Brownlee, whose brother Alistair is injured, clocked one hour 55 minutes 26 seconds to beat Spanish defending champion Javier Gomez by 15 seconds.

“It was great to win,” said Brownlee. “It’s the first time I’ve won a World Series event for a while.”

Lucy Hall, in 17th, was the highest-placed Briton in the women’s event, which was won by USA’s Gwen Jorgensen.

It was a record seventh straight World Triathlon Series victory for 28-year-old Jorgensen.

Her compatriot Katie Zaferes was second, with New Zealand’s Andrea Hewitt third.

Ireland’s Aileen Reid finished 15th, while Britain’s Jessica Learmonth pulled out on the bike leg.

British Triathlon performance director Brendan Purcell said: “Jess has been unwell, it was touch and go whether she was going to race, so it was good to see her swim and bike well until she had a mechanical problem.”

Both races featured a 1,500m swim, 43.2km bike and 10km run.

Brownlee, 24, looked strong throughout the men’s race as he improved on his fifth place at the season-opener in Abu Dhabi on 7 March.

“I made mistakes in Abu Dhabi and have been beating myself up about it since,” he said. “I wanted to show how fit I was.

“I’ve been practising running hard off a fast bike. I was a bit cleverer on the bike and maybe I’m a bit fitter than I was at the start of the year.

“I felt very good, the swim was great, with the bike I didn’t want to do anything silly and on the run I was surprised, I had a gap which I didn’t expect, it shows how hard the bike was.

“It’s great to have an honest course where you can use your strength. I swim 10 hours a week, I bike 20 hours a week and I want to be able to show that.”

Thomas Bishop, in 13th, was the next Briton home after Brownlee, with Ireland’s Bryan Keane and Conor Murphy in 42nd and 48th respectively.

Britons Phillip Graves and Grant Sheldon did not finish